I Told You So

Admiral Fallon is stepping down. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says there is “a perception of differences with the administration.” That means the DC suits didn’t like the way the Esquire Magazine profile of Fallon turned out.

The article credits Fallon with “brazenly challenging his commander in chief” over a possible war with Iran, which Fallon called an “ill-advised action,” and implies Fallon would resign rather than go to war against Iran…

Sources in the Pentagon said Fallon was worried the White House would perceive the magazine piece as a challenge to the president’s authority, and insisted that couldn’t be further from the truth. At the same time the sources said Fallon “doesn’t sound like someone considering resignation.”

In his own defense, Fallon told the Washington Post that the Esquire article was “poison pen stuff…disrespectful and ugly.”

You gotta love the words of praise Robert Gates served up as he was shoving him out the door. And Gates says it was Fallon’s idea.

Gates said Fallon had asked Gates for permission to retire and that Gates agreed.